Toward an Understanding of Thin-Film Transistor Performance in Solution-Processed Amorphous Zinc Tin Oxide (ZTO) Thin Films

Amorphous zinc tin oxide (ZTO) thin films are accessible by a molecular precursor approach using mononuclear zinc(II) and tin(II) compounds with methoxyiminopropionic acid ligands. Solution processing of two precursor solutions containing a mixture of zinc and tin(II)–methoxyiminopropinato complexes results in the formation of smooth homogeneous thin films, which upon calcination are converted into the desired semiconducting amorphous ZTO thin films. ZTO films integrated within a field-effect transistor (FET) device exhibit an active semiconducting behavior in the temperature range between 250 and 400 °C, giving an increased performance, with mobility values between μ = 0.03 and 5.5 cm 2 /V s, with on/off ratios increasing from 10 5 to 10 8 when going from 250 to 400 °C. Herein, our main emphasis, however, was on an improved understanding of the material transformation pathway from weak to high performance of the semiconductor in a solution-processed FET as a function of the processing temperature. We have correlated this with the chemical composition and defects states within the microstructure of the obtained ZTO thin film via photoelectron spectroscopy (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy), Auger electron spectroscopy, electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and photoluminescence investigations. The critical factor observed for the improved performance within this ZTO material could be attributed to a higher tin concentration, wherein the contributions of point defects arising from the tin oxide within the final amorphous ZTO material play the dominant role in governing the transistor performance.